Kevin Durant: ‘I Don’t Feel Like a Superstar’

Kevin Durant opened up about what he needs to improve on as a ballplayer, and how he perceives himself (which is a complete 180 from how the rest of the world views the OKC Thunder’s wondrous forward.) NBA.com has the Q&A: “Where do you think your game can evolve to? KD: ‘Well, eventually, just being a completely all-around player, a guy who can get triple doubles. I haven’t got one yet in five years, but I know my time is coming to get one of those. I want to be a guy that can consistently do it almost every night. And I think doing that is the mental part of the game, watching film, see where I can help my teammates, how I can score easier, where I can rebound at. I’ve got to continue to just keep watching and keep learning every day.’ When you’d watch those teams the last couple of years, did you envision your team getting there? KD: ‘I knew we had a chance. I knew we had a chance to do it if we continued to grow individually first, and come together as a group, collectively, to do it. I pointed at myself. I looked in the mirror and just told myself if I grew as individual player, then that means my team was going to do better. So I just tried to kick it into full drive this summer and work as hard as I can every day, and just play every day. Once you just play the game, you start to pick up habits. You start to see things a little differently. That’s what I did.’ Me: Do you feel like a different kind of superstar? KD: ‘I don’t feel like a superstar, to be honest. You say ‘superstar,’ you gotta look at guys like the Kobe Bryants and the LeBrons and the DWades, where they can’t go to the mall. They can’t even go to the McDonalds. They just get swarmed. Carmelo Anthony, I’ve seen that up close, where people just love those guys. As opposed to me, I can just be regular. I can walk out, walk down the street, go to the mall, go to the gas station, and people don’t even recognize me. I like it like that. I always wanted to consider myself as a good basketball player, and I’m not there yet.’ But you can be anonymous in Oklahoma City. In New York, you couldn’t do that. KD: ‘I think it’s the other way around. I think now, that we’ve made it to the Finals and we’ve gotten better over the years, I go up to the mall and three or four people recognize me. Five or six see me at the McDonalds. But if I was in New York, I’d just be another person. There’s so many stars there in New York and L.A., I could walk around and just be me. But I like it here. I love the people here. They’re great to play for. Great people to be around.’”